Dive shops in west Puerto Rico

[prskate2]

Well, right now I am pretty sure there are only 2 places that will take you out to the Parguera Wall's. One of them has a really crappy boat and not a very good operation. But there is a dive shop running out of the hotel Copa Maria. Look it up on google. The hotel is a little pricey but very nice. The people at the dive shop are very friendly and are just great, But the place where you really want to go is Desecheo, with Taino Divers. It's spectacular. I have dove Parguera 6 times and Desecheo 6 times. Desecheo is much better. Hope you have a good time. If you need any more info just PM me.

 

[DivingPanda]

My husband and I are planning to visit P.R. and do some diving on the south and west coasts. We will fly into SJU and rent a car for 9 days or so. Can you recommend some good dive operators? Want to dive the Parguera Wall for sure and drive up the west coast back to San Juan. Thanks so much in advance.

We're doing pretty much this itinerary next weekend. I'll post how it goes. In the meantime, there's lots of information here:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/greater-antilles/219789-puerto-rico.html

 

[prskate2]

Next weekend? It should be calm. I went out to Desecheo and it was the most calm I have ever seen it. It was great!

 

[DivingPanda]

Next weekend? It should be calm. I went out to Desecheo and it was the most calm I have ever seen it. It was great!

Fingers crossed! As long as the boat goes out, we'll dive in pretty much anything! Actually, for calibration, what kinds of conditions (seas, currents, winds) would usually be grounds for Taino to cancel an AM trip to Descheo?

 

[prskate2]

Well, Desecheo can get pretty rough. If the waves get over 3 ft they will probably cancel. Once your out there they will check the current at different spots to see which they will dive. As for wind, if there are waves - there is wind.

 

[diverichards]

We had a very good experience with Taino out of Rincon for Desecheo Island. There are alot of posts about Parguera, but we didn't get down south to dive.

 

[DivingPanda]

Well, Desecheo can get pretty rough. If the waves get over 3 ft they will probably cancel. Once your out there they will check the current at different spots to see which they will dive. As for wind, if there are waves - there is wind.

That's a little disappointing - we've had some great dives in Florida in 5+ ft seas We'll see how it goes!

 

[prskate2]

It's is because the island is kinda far out. Since it is pretty far they don't want the seas too big

 

[sky651]

I just got back from 10 days on the west and south coast of PR. The diving was great. We dove with Taino Divers in Rincon. It was a smooth passage to the island. We dove Desecheo in December and this was even better. We were able to go to the other side of the island to a site the are rarely able to go. We saw loads of stuff. In La Parguera we dove with West Coast Divers. Its a nice operation, the boat is relatively small so the most divers they take is 6. Victor, the diver instructor, is a very good diver and plans interesting dives. The only set back is he seems at times to be more interested in his photography than his clients. The trip out to the wall at La Parguera was way rougher than Desecheo. We took Dramamine after the first day and were fine. The wall is very diverse with lot's of morays and small fry. All said I prefer Desecheo to La Parguera but I plan to dive both again. PM me if you have any questions.

 

[prskate2]

I just got back from 10 days on the west and south coast of PR. The diving was great. We dove with Taino Divers in Rincon. It was a smooth passage to the island. We dove Desecheo in December and this was even better. We were able to go to the other side of the island to a site the are rarely able to go. We saw loads of stuff. In La Parguera we dove with West Coast Divers. Its a nice operation, the boat is relatively small so the most divers they take is 6. Victor, the diver instructor, is a very good diver and plans interesting dives. The only set back is he seems at times to be more interested in his photography than his clients. The trip out to the wall at La Parguera was way rougher than Desecheo. We took Dramamine after the first day and were fine. The wall is very diverse with lot's of morays and small fry. All said I prefer Desecheo to La Parguera but I plan to dive both again. PM me if you have any questions.

This is Puerto Rico you are talking about. People will do anything to make more money on the side. Some dive masters here do that too, but not very many which is a good thing. The 6 times I have been to La Parguera I probably saw about 3 -4 eels each dive. It was great. Never been diving with West Divers. Your lucky because in December the seas are most of the time pretty big. Winter in PR is surfing season. But who knows you might just get lucky.
I live here. So any questions just PM me.